August 27th

GRAMBLING — Legendary Grambling State football coach Eddie Robinson made many friends during his 57-year coaching career.
And those friendships keep paying off, even three years after his death.
That was the case Thursday at the Eddie Robinson Museum, as members of Grambling Legends — a group of GSU athletic alumni — presented a $10,000 donation to the museum.

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The Ruston Civic Center was filled to the brim Thursday as students, parents, faculty and other community members gathered to celebrate the fourth annual Community-Wide Back-to-School Bash.
Parents had access to a wide variety of information and resources, and everyone had the chance to eat free food and enjoy various activities.
Tammy Schilling, associate professor of kinesiology at Louisiana Tech, led the contests, which included a twist and shout competition, a hula hoop competition and an ice cream and cake dance competition among others.

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“These procedures can be very confusing,” she said.
Voters who are registered Republicans may choose between two candidates running for the Fifth Congressional District seat that U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, a Republican, currently occupies.
Lincoln Parish Republican voters (and those in surrounding parishes) will choose between Alexander, from Quitman, and Monroe resident Todd Slavant, also a Republican.
Regarding Saturday’s party primary for U.S. Senate, former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor, a Republican, is challenging Republican incumbent David Vitter.

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Ben Haddox loves baseball, has been the head coach in that sport for the past four years at Cedar Creek High, but let’s face it:
He is eager for football to get started ,and it’s not just because he’s now the head coach of the Cougars’ program.
Haddox simply loves athletics, being around it and guiding the student-athletes who are involved in it.

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Make it not one, but two “Fan Day” activities in Lincoln Parish on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University will both have their annual fan friendly events to help kick off the start of another season.
The Bulldogs’ activities will begin at 2 p.m. and continue until 4 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.

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While “Rome” burns, Louisiana Tech University’s first-year athletics director prefers to play a fiddle of optimism for the future.
Recently turned 55-year-old Bruce Van De Velde has been in the athletics administration circles long enough to know that there’s oftentimes a need not to cry over “spilled milk.”
With last week’s exodus of Fresno State and Nevada, however, the Western Athletic Conference’s foundation is getting shakier with every passing hour.

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Once upon a time, working at a university in Lincoln Parish, or the state of Louisiana for that matter, made for a good, comfortable living for those who had worked hard, paid their dues and prepared for a good future.
The story was once non-fictional. Now it seems like a fairy tale, something that couldn’t be true, not in this day and age.
And for the time being, at least, there will be no happy ending for our area universities.
That’s not to say they won’t make it, because solid leadership at both schools should have Louisiana Tech and Grambling State poised to ride out the challenging times ahead.

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Football fans in Lincoln Parish and the surrounding area who love their high school teams shouldn’t have any trouble getting in the mood for the 2010 season this weekend.
They will get the ultimate gridiron experience at that level over at Joe Aillet Stadium on the campus of Louisiana Tech University.
For the second consecutive year, the facility will serve as the host site for what is rapidly becoming one of the premier preseason events in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.

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August 26th

Arrests for marijuana possession are nothing new in Lincoln Parish. As local police reports will indicate, at least one person a month typically racks up the charge. It frequently happens when they are pulled over for a traffic violation or being investigated for another matter, and police catch sight of the leafy, greenish-brown substance, which is thought to produce a euphoric effect when smoked.
But this week, local law enforcement agents encountered something new when they reportedly seized 11 pounds of hydroponic marijuana, a form of the plant grown indoors that is supposed to be more potent.
Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Stephen Williams said the two suspects did not appear to be growing the marijuana — just getting shipments and selling it. So how would police know the marijuana tucked away in bags was of the hydroponic strain?

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Some parents aren’t happy about the new attendance rules that members of the Lincoln Parish School System recently announced they are going to enforce.
Your child may no longer miss more than 10 days of school per individual school year — and that includes excused and unexcused absences. This is a departure from the maximum number of school days that a student was allowed to miss in previous years (16 days per school year).
Truancy officers from the Lincoln Parish District Attorney’s Office will contact parents if their child has a third unexcused absence. School administrators, however, will still have the leeway to determine if there are extenuating circumstances, they said.

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